Past Death and Despair
by AngelusDeNux
Summary: It's odd. I didn't think I'd fall for someone so easily. GregOC
1. Chapter 1: Jeremy Blake

CSI

Hollow

Disclaimer: wails I DON'T OWN CSI! whimper Though I wish I had Greggie. But at least I can make a story with Quinn.

Around him Warrick was flashing pictures and Grissom was examining the contents in the bathroom cabinet. The sirens and the low murmur of policemen seemed to echo around him distantly. Even Catherine, Sarah, and Nick were here, questioning the family and neighbors, searching rooms, the usual. He should be doing something else, he knew that. But he couldn't draw his face away from the body.

Two knives had been gouged into the victim's eyes. His throat was slit open, a thin bleeding line of blood oozing down his chest. Around his neck hung a sign, with letters and numbers that hid some secret clue. Jeremy Blake was only thirteen years old when his mother had found him at 11:30 this cold Saturday night. He was leaned like a puppet against the wall, a smile upon his pale lips and his arms wide apart.

"You want to head back to the lab?"

Looking away from the boy's corpse, he turned to see Grissom giving him a questioning glance.

"Na, I'm fine, really."

Grissom looked back to the corpse, his gaze never flinching or revealing any emotion.

"Whoever did this didn't hesitate. It's a clean cut. And this is the 2nd murder this week, a family of four, the eldest child killed and staged exactly like this."

He gazed unwavering at Greg at shook his head.

"It looks like we have on our hands a serial killer."

Greg sighed and ran a hand through his spiky blond hair. He had already had a tough week and it had taken its toll on him. The murder of a millionaire for three days, and then the suicide of a 31-year-old mother.

"Hey you guys, this is the same as the last case." Sarah Sydol walked up behind them, empty handed. "The whole place was wiped down. Not a print to be found."

Catherine Willows entered the already crowded bathroom and grimaced. "The mother was going to get Tylonol when she saw him. She screamed and her husband called 9-1-1. They don't think anyone suspicious was around, so we don't have any leads."

Outside the bathroom, Nick Stokes was dusting the doorway for prints. But all he gave was a frustrated groan when he finished. "Grissom, we've searched this place inside and out but we got nothing. I don't think Eckly is going to like this."

Warrick Brown put down the camera and shook his head as he fixed his gaze on the boy.

"Can anyone make out what that's saying?"

Everyone turned to look but only Greg and Grissom didn't wince at the sight. The boy's emotionless smile leered tauntingly at them. The blades shone dangerously in the light and the blood trickled down his face like tears of mirth.

Warrick, with his head turned away from Jeremy's face, gently lifted the note from around his neck and turned it over in his hands. It still made no sense to him. Finally, after studying it for a few minutes, he handed it to Grissom, muttering under his breath.

"I can't make head or tails of this thing. All it is a buncha mumbo jumbo."

Grissom gave him a knowing look and replied, "This mumbo jumbo is the only piece of evidence we have. Bag it and send it to the lab, Greg. We need an autopsy report just to be certain that he died of a slit throat."

With that, he passes it to Greg and gave his team members a defeated glance.

"Until then, we should all go back to the lab. We've been here for hours, and we need a little break."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"I'm being transferred."

"WHAT?"

Mia's simple statement caused Greg to cry out at once.She could only shrug her shoulders helplessly.

"My mother, she became injured in New York. I'll be moving over there to help her out."

The expression on Greg's face was pure shock. If she was leaving the lab, that meant-

"Sorry Greg, but until you can train a new lab worker, you can't go back into the field."

Grissom's words struck home.

"We're going to need you on the case!"

"From what I see, you don't even have a print for me to take a look at."

"Well, when are you leaving?"

Mia gave a sad smile.

"Tonight."

Greg gave a look of pure horror and banged his head against the wall just for effect. Sarah and Catherine rolled their eyes, while Nick and Warrick just stood there, dumb-struck. Grissom just shrugged and went back to examining a new specimen of dung beetle.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Greg spun around on the swivel chair, bored stiff. Everyone else had already left to go back to the Crime Scene, leaving him to try to decode the note. So far on every search site he got nothing. He yawned, rubbing his eyes depressed and dreary. Outside, it was raining. Not his favorite weather. And now that he couldn't go into the field, his life was meaningless. Well, not really. Just boring and stressful, wondering when the next death would occur.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

She grinned from ear to ear as she heard the announcement."Las Vegas flight willbe landing in five minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and turn off all cellphones and laptops at this time."

Finally, almost there. Ever since a month ago her uncle called to say they needed a new CSI member for his lab, she had been cleaning out her apartment and packing her bags. And now, after eight years, she could work alongside her favorite uncle.

She tightened the seat belt around her waist and looked eagerly out the window. The rain pitterpatted across the window but the weather didn't bother her. Rain was calm and soothing. And soon she would see him again.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Gil, where are you going?'

Catherine turned to Grissom, a frown on her face.

"We have to get to work. If we don't find one piece of evidence soon-"

"I know, Catherine. It's just that I need to be somewhere right now, and you're currently stopping me from doing so. You'll have Nick and Sara with you."

He walked away, slipping off his gloves and whistling softly. Catherine glanced at his retreating figure, thinking to herself.

_If he's whistling at a crime scene, something really good must be happening._

**Yays! The first chapter is completed! Please leave reviews...please!**


	2. Chapter 2: Reunited

Disclaimer: I don't….I don't…own CSI. Only the OC. breaks into tears

Chapter 2: Reunited

Nobody was there.

Of course everyone else on the plane had either gone their own way or met up laughing and smiling with their own family. But where was he? She looked around anxiously, but still there was no one. Sighing, she took a seat on the chair and looked out the window of the airport.

He probably has a new case. I mean, this was Las Vegas. Murders were as common as casinos. She slumped down dejectedly in her seat. It looked like she'd be sitting here for a long time. Sighing again, she sunk even lower into the chair and listened to the voices of the people.

A man was hugging his wife fiercely, his children surrounding them in a semi-circle, crying tears of joy. An old couple we arguing over which flight number they were going on, forgetting the fact that the man had the ticket in his hand. A teenage boy was listening to loud rock music, way over the sound limit an ear could take before losing hearing. Nickelback in a way, seemed the appropriate song to listen to in this place.

Not all scenes were joyous. A boy around nineteen seemed to be holding back tears, an army suit on and a small suitcase in his hands. His parents were walking away, the mother already sobbing and the father holding her. Another man was holding roses and chocolates in his hand, looking around desperately for someone, and then walked out the exit doors, dropping his items in the trash on the way out.

She got up and stretched, looking around again. There was no one, he wasn't here. He didn't send anyone for her, she could see that clearly enough. Aimlessly, she began to walk around, ignoring the arguing family of five next to her whining to a lone mother. She began humming along to the Nickelback song without knowing it, still trudging along.

"…Pulls the trigger fast as she can, never again, been there before but not like this-"

"Quinn?"

She spun around and saw past a group of tourists, him. With a joyous shriek, and a small blush on her face, she ran up to him.

"Uncle GIL!"

Just as she remembered him, exactly as she remembered him. Short, gray hair and the same pair of glasses he had worn those many years ago. He had saved her from them, the people who had called themselves her parents. He was smiling, his hands at his sides, a manila folder in his hands. She couldn't stop though. Dropping her bags, she jumped up and hugged him, beginning to cry softly into his black jacket, holding him tightly. He was here. He was here.

"Quinn."

She looked up; her eyes still wet and saw him smiling down at her, hugging her back. She grinned right back at him, and struggling to stop her tears, broke their embrace and held out a hand.

"Quinn Bailey, reporting for lab techie."

He stared at her for a moment, as though taking her all in and then, the smile widening on his face, he shook her hand.

"Gil Grissom, nightshift supervisor."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Ok, where is he?"

Everyone was back in the conference room, except for Grissom. Catherine had already tried paging him, calling him on his cell phone, but still no luck. She looked around the room, summing everyone up. But she could tell right away nobody knew anything.

"Damnit, there's a little boy out there dead in the worst possible way, and he's gone somewhere else?'

Sara stood up and held Catherine's arm, stopping her from continuing her rant.

"Catherine, I know how you feel about child cases but-"

"But nothing! He's the best person we know who can solve the case and he's missing!"

The boys sat back in there seats and gave each other knowing looks. Catherine Willows was the one person you could count on to get uptight and angry about child cases. Her having a child of her own, not to mention one who always got into trouble, situations like these always had a negative affect on her character. Finally, she stopped resisting Sara as something caught her eye.

"Went to get the new member of our group. Feed the dung beetle the decaying fruit in the back of the mini-fridge."

"Huh?"

Catherine pointed to the small note taped to the door. Greg tried to but failed to stifle his laughter. Soon even Nick and Warrick were laughing, to the cold glare of the females. Finally, as Greg caught Sara's eye, he stopped laughing quickly and elbowed Nick pointedly. Soon the room was quiet again, not mentioning the muttering of how stupid Gil could be. AN: I'm not going to put in writing what Catherine is saying since, it's not very appropriate. Even at this rating.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"I just can't believe I get to work with you! This is so…so great!"

Gil just smiled, listening to the almost non-stop chatter of his niece. Even after living through a bad childhood, she was just as he remembered. Intelligent, wide-eyed, curious. Just like when she was a child ready to face the world. And he had had the opportunity to witness some of her feats.

"Uncle Gil, when will I be meeting all of them? From your letters it sounds like all of you enjoy working with each other."

"Well, it depends. When do you want to start?"

"……."

Gil dared to take his eyes off the road to look at her for a moment. She was looking out the window, a habit she had picked up as a child. Whenever she was thinking or avoiding something, she'd look out the window. And another thing he noticed was that she would become dead silent around other people. But talks like a madman when she was alone with him.

"How 'bout tomorrow? I mean, I only have a couple of things. And I could probably move into my apartment and get everything looking the way I want by tonight. Go to sleep in the morning, be back for, what did you call it? Oh yeah, graveyard shift."

He nodded. That would work. She was always a hard worker, determined to get the job done. Now there was only the matter of who her mentor would be.

"So you'll be learning how we do things from Greg."

"…."

"Is there a problem?"

"…isn't he the one that reads porn magazines in his spare time?"

"…."

"Please tell me you were just kidding in the letters."

"…."

"…."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Greg sat back in the lab again, looking through a magazine. He couldn't help but think. Readers Digest. Just the book that made you wish Sara hadn't thrown away all the good magazines.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"This is my apartment?"

It seemed that today she couldn't stop smiling. It was so cool! Everything was sleek and spotless. Well, maybe that was because there was barely anything in it, other than the essentials.

"Don't worry about paying me back. Just you being here is more than enough."

She gave him another hug when suddenly she felt a buzzing sound next to her hip. Stepping back, Grissom reached to his belt and grabbed his cell phone, then answered.

"GIL WHERE ARE YOU!"

Even Quinn could hear the woman's voice. And it wasn't happy.

"WE HAVE A CASE THAT NEEDS SOLVING, AND ALL WE HAVE IS A PIECE OF PAPER THAT SAYS NOTHING!"

"Catherine, calm down. I'm just helping the new lab girl to her apartment. It's-"

"NO BIG DEAL?"

"I'll be there when I get there. Don't send anyone back to the Crime Scene just yet."

With that he hung up. Giving her an apologetic shrug, they hugged one last time before he gave her the key and left. Quinn re-entered the room, locking the door behind her.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"YOU'VE BEEN READING THIS WHOLE TIME INSTEAD OF TRYING TO DECODE THE MESSAGE?"

"Oops."

Yesh, that chapter's over. Don't worry, the next chapter is where they finally meet. I would like some reviews puppy eyes or else. Cerberus leers down at you, salivia dripping from it's cavernous mouth. Yeah, I'm weird. But PLEASE REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3: Blush

Dislaimer: The show CSI isn't mine

Sorry! What I was hoping for was that I'd do a chapter a day, not hard since it's summer vacation. But then the power went out for a whole week and my mom works at home sometimes, so it's a little hard to get on the computer.

Chapter 3: Blush

One last look in the mirror. Even though she hated the saying, she knew that most people lived by it. Appearances mean everything. Her long, black hair hung around her face, bangs uneven. No matter how hard she had combed through her hair always parted naturally like that. Her bright green eyes, the only feature of herself that she admired, gleamed in the light of the sunset. They really stuck out against her pale skin. She wore her favorite red turtleneck shirt, and a pair of black Capri's. Her silver hoop earrings matched the silver necklace that her foster mom gave her. On the whole, she had to admit that she looked way better than usual.

With a smile at herself in the mirror, she grabbed her purse and umbrella. Nobody was in the hall, though outside she could hear some children laughing. Walking over to the window at the end of the hallway, she could see a boy and a girl playing with a sprinkler system, laughing and running away from the water, only returning to see how close they could get before being splashed. Humming to herself, she walked down the stairs and out the door.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"She's coming today Greg. That means normal...for any other human being."

Grissom was giving him one of his play-by-my-rules looks. He yawned. He couldn't help it. He had gotten the same speech from Grissom when Mia had joined the team. And now he was getting it again.

"There's something else that I wanted to tell you before she arrived. She's my-"

"Uncle Gil!"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

She waved. It seemed he was talking to someone. Almost getting lost on the way, she knew she was just a little late. Then she heard a loud voice of astonishment.

"You have a niece!"  
The person her uncle was talking to turned around. And then she blushed.

His blond hair was messy and spiked in so many different directions, but in a way it suited him. His mouth was hung open in surprise, and his hazel eyes stared at her for a moment. Then they snapped back up and turned to Grissom.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"_She's_ your niece?"

His supervisor raised an eyebrow at him and then got up.

"I won't be able to stay with you two. They just found another body and it might be another murder."

Greg and Gil shared a worried look before Grissom walked out the door, patting his niece's shoulder on the way out. But then Greg turned to look at her again. How could they possibly be related? They looked nothing alike, though he should be thankful for that.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"May I introduce myself as Greg Sanders, official brain of this place and well-known chick magnet."

He was bowing. Bowing. And then he got up and with an extravagent wave of a hand, grasped my own and kissed it. Other then making me blush till I was red, I noticed that two other women were watching from the door way. This made blush ever harder and as he got up, he winked at me.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Catherine was trying hard not to laugh. Really trying. It didn't work.

"Greg, what the hell are you doing?"

She said it all, with laughter. Sara hadn't even tried to contain her laugh, but just belt it out, already leaning against the side of the door.

The madly blushing girl turned and gave them a wide eyed stare and a small smile. Greg still hadn't let go of her hand and waved at them, so they both waved.

Catherine laughed all the louder. In a way, she felt sorta sorry for the girl, but she wanted to see what Greg would do.

"What's going on in here?"

Nick had walked behind the two giggling girls to see Greg and a girl holding hands. Immediately she dropped his hand and gave an embarresed shake of her head. Nick pushed past the two females and held out a hand.

"Nick Stokes."

She shook his hand tentatively, as though unsure of how to shake a hand. Behind him Greg was glaring at the two. With a small smirk, he let go reluctantly and pointed to each of the girls.

"That's Catherine Willows. And that's Sara Sidle."

She shook each hand and they apologized for laughing.

"It's just that Greg has never pulled out the cheesyness so thickly. I think he likes you."

The girl gave a nervous laugh and then looked around at everyone.

"I'm Quinn Bailey."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Why did Nick have to come? Shouldn't he be with Grissom? Greg glared at him. He only smirked in reply and introduced everyone else. This was not going the way he planned. At all.

Yeah, I know it's a little short. And I decided to put in Nick as a little competition. Please review or give me suggestions. It would really help out lol.


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